Chapter 1384
The Deputy Supervisor Saw a Ghost!
The atmosphere inside the meeting room was a stark contrast to the tranquility of the eighth-floor corridor, filled with a cacophony of voices and an undeniable sense of exhaustion. The meeting room, which could accommodate dozens of people, was almost full. Those present were the directors and political commissars of various branch bureaus, as well as the heads of key detachments, brigades, and major police stations in the city. Since the Luo Fei "disappearance" case was designated a top priority by higher authorities, the Dongguan City Public Security Bureau had urgently established a special task force, headed by Executive Deputy Director Chen Yunfei, and comprised of elite personnel from various relevant units.
These past few days, this conference room has been the command center, with daily meetings held without fail to summarize massive amounts of investigation information and adjust deployments, but the results have consistently been frustrating.
Sitting in the first seat to the left of the main seat, with a gloomy expression, was Deputy Director Chen Yunfei.
He looked to be in his forties, slightly overweight, with puffy eyes, bloodshot eyes, and several blisters on the corners of his mouth from anxiety.
As the head of the special task force, he bore the greatest pressure. Thousands of police officers were mobilized, the city of Dongguan was practically turned upside down, tens of thousands of surveillance videos were reviewed, and countless suspicious locations and individuals were investigated, yet not a single trace of Luo Fei could be found; it was as if he had truly vanished into thin air. The urging from his superiors grew increasingly urgent, their tone increasingly harsh. Director Zhong's face was grim after each phone call, and he would then pour even more pressure onto him.
He felt like a rat trapped in a ring of fire, with nowhere to escape.
The people in charge below were also full of complaints. After working at high intensity for several days and nights, they were physically and mentally exhausted, but made no progress. This sense of frustration and physical exhaustion brought everyone to the brink of emotional collapse.
"How are we supposed to find this? We don't have a single clue. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack."
The head of a suburban police station couldn't help but complain under his breath, rubbing his throbbing temples.
"Who says otherwise? All the police forces on my side were mobilized. We searched every hotel, internet cafe, bathhouse, and even construction site sheds in the area several times, but we didn't find a thing."
Another director chimed in, his tone irritated.
"The key question is, where did this person go? Could it be... that they never even entered Dongguan City? Or that something happened to them?"
Someone whispered a frightening speculation.
"Don't talk nonsense! We need to find him alive or dead... ugh! The higher-ups have clearly ordered that we must find him, and find him safely! If we can't find him, where will the Dongguan police put their faces? I think this case is bizarre!"
A veteran squad leader shook his head and sighed.
These whispers buzzed like flies, reaching Chen Yunfei's ears and making his already tense nerves even more aching.
He suddenly raised his head and slammed his hand on the heavy solid wood conference table with a dull thud.
"Shut up, all of you!"
Chen Yunfei let out a low growl, his voice hoarse but filled with anger.
"What's all the commotion? You think you're in the right because you can't find him? Feeling tired? Feeling overwhelmed? Feeling helpless? Let me tell you, no one will have an easy time without Director Luo Fei! Anyone who thinks they can't do the job can submit a report and leave the meeting room right now, and I'll approve it immediately!"
His outburst silenced the meeting room. Everyone looked at each other, not daring to utter a sound, but the fatigue and dissatisfaction on their faces did not subside; they were merely suppressed for the time being.
Chen Yunfei was panting heavily, his chest heaving. He knew his words were a bit harsh, but the pressure of the past few days and the fruitless search had exhausted his patience.
Just as he was preparing to bite the bullet and deploy another round of investigations, which might still be futile, the meeting room door was pushed open.
Director Zhong Baoyu was the first to walk in. Everyone in the conference room reacted as if by conditioned reflex.
They all stood up from their seats in a flash, their movements perfectly synchronized.
Chen Yunfei, who was standing by the door and closest to the entrance, immediately turned around to face Zhong Baoyu, forcing a bitter expression on his face as if he was preparing to report on the difficult situation.
However, his gaze froze the moment it landed on Zhong Baoyu's face.
Because his gaze went past Zhong Baoyu's shoulder and saw the young man who was walking in slowly behind Zhong Baoyu.
In that instant, Chen Yunfei's expression was indescribably complex. First came his habitual respect, followed by confusion at the sight of a stranger. Then, when his gaze finally focused on Luo Fei's face, and he saw that face he had seen countless times in photos over the past few days, almost imprinted in his mind, yet which he believed "should" be locked up somewhere without freedom—astonishment, bewilderment, disbelief, and a kind of ghostly horror, like an overturned palette, instantly mixed together, distorting and grotesquely painting his entire face.
He was as if struck by an invisible lightning bolt, frozen in place, his eyes wide open, his mouth slightly agape, emitting a short, labored "hoarse" sound, but unable to utter a word immediately. Two or three seconds passed before the extreme shock finally broke through the constriction in his throat, transforming into a distorted cry of surprise.
"You...how did you get out?!"
Chen Yunfei's finger rose almost uncontrollably, pointing at Luo Fei, his voice sharp and distorted with extreme shock.
"You...when were you released?!"
The question was extremely abrupt and its content was incredibly strange.
"Out?"
"They've been released?"
These words should never be used to describe a "missing" National Security Bureau chief who is being searched for by the city's police force.
Director Zhong Baoyu, who was just about to introduce Luo Fei to everyone, was stunned upon hearing this.
He frowned and looked at Chen Yunfei with a puzzled expression.
"Deputy Director Chen, what do you mean by that? What do you mean by 'released'? This is Director Luo Fei of the Special Cases Bureau of the Ministry of State Security! The person we've been looking for for days is back safely!"
"National...National Security Special Case Bureau? Director Luo Fei?"
Chen Yunfei seemed not to understand Zhong Baoyu's words, or perhaps he understood each word but couldn't comprehend the combination. He repeated the two words, his face draining of color at a visible speed, turning deathly pale.
His gaze was fixed on Luo Fei's face, trying to find any trace of deception, but that face, that calm gaze, perfectly overlapped with the face of the suspect he remembered who had been secretly sent to the Xishan Detention Center and whom he had personally instructed to receive "special treatment." The only difference was that this face no longer showed the haggardness and gloom of a detainee; instead, it possessed a calm demeanor that seemed to see through everything.
A tremendous sense of absurdity and a chilling fear, like two venomous snakes, instantly coiled around Chen Yunfei's heart and climbed up his spine, making him feel numb and dizzy.
He felt like he was having an absurd nightmare. In the dream, the little guy he regarded as someone he could manipulate at will, someone he was even prepared to let "disappear naturally," had suddenly become a big shot whom he had to look up to and who could easily decide his fate!
Before Zhong Baoyu could continue to reprimand Chen Yunfei for his inappropriate behavior, Luo Fei had already taken two steps forward, with an enigmatic, calm smile on his face, and proactively extended his hand to Chen Yunfei, who was still pointing at him stiffly.
"Deputy Director Chen, how have you been?" Luo Fei's voice was not loud, but it clearly reached the ears of everyone in the conference room. His gaze fell on Chen Yunfei's pale and horrified face, and his tone was even quite elegant.
You look great today.
To an outsider, this might just be a casual, slightly teasing greeting.
But to Chen Yunfei, it was like a bolt from the blue, shattering his last shred of hope.
"Long time no see"—they'd met before! The other person recognized him! And clearly remembered their last "meeting"! Combined with the other person's current identity and the way they appeared… Chen Yunfei felt a bone-chilling cold rush from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, as if all the blood in his body had frozen instantly. A deafening ringing in his ears erupted, his vision began to sway and spin, and he even felt waves of dizziness, almost losing his balance.
Zhong Baoyu watched from the side with a furrowed brow. Chen Yunfei's distraught, ghost-like reaction was highly abnormal.
He urged in a deep voice.
"Deputy Director Chen! Director Luo is greeting you! Watch your attitude!"
Chen Yunfei seemed to wake up a bit after being scolded by Zhong Baoyu. He looked at Zhong Baoyu's serious face, then at Luo Fei's clean and steady hand outstretched in front of him, and at the smile on the other's face that seemed to contain endless meaning in its calmness.
Almost entirely out of his remaining physical instincts, he mechanically and stiffly raised his hand, which had begun to tremble slightly, and slowly, extremely slowly, stretched it forward.
When his fingertips finally touched Luo Fei's palm, the warm touch made him feel as if he had been branded with a hot iron, and his fingers trembled violently.
He managed to grasp Luo Fei's hand, his movements weak and feeble, and his palm instantly became covered in a layer of cold sweat.
He tried to force a smile, or at least say something polite like "Welcome" or "Nice to meet you," but something seemed to be stuck in his throat, and he could only manage some meaningless "Uh...ah..."
The breathy sound and the expression on his face were even worse than crying.
Luo Fei firmly grasped his hand with moderate pressure, then naturally released it. The smile on his face remained calm, even carrying a hint of something almost imperceptible, as if he saw through everything yet was slightly amused.
The smile, when seen by Chen Yunfei, was like the gaze of death, sending shivers down his spine.
The entire conference room was completely silent; you could hear a pin drop.
All the leaders present witnessed this extremely bizarre scene.
The "missing" protagonist they had been searching for for several days, Director Luo Fei of the Ministry of State Security, suddenly appeared; while Chen Yunfei, the head of the special task force in charge of the search and deputy director of the municipal bureau, seemed to have seen the most terrifying nightmare when he saw him, losing his composure to the point of being incoherent, pale, and trembling all over.
This highly unusual reaction, combined with Chen Yunfei's earlier outburst, "Why did you come out?", sent shockwaves and countless doubts through the minds of every shrewd person in charge present.
All eyes were focused on the two hands that had just separated, and the two people with drastically different expressions.
Time seemed to stand still at that moment.
Luo Fei's "How have you been?" and Chen Yunfei's distraught reaction, as if he had seen a ghost, acted like two giant magnets, drawing everyone's attention to the two men.
The air was so thick it seemed you could wring water out of it, with only Chen Yunfei's heavy, irregular breathing faintly audible.
A wave of astonishment and doubt surged in everyone's hearts. Their gazes darted back and forth between the calm-looking Luo Fei and the ashen-faced, swaying Deputy Director Chen, and countless questions grew wildly in their minds.
Director Zhong Baoyu's brows were furrowed into a deep frown.
He knew better than anyone else present how abnormal and inappropriate Chen Yunfei's behavior was at that moment.
For a deputy director of the municipal bureau to show such panic and confusion, as if his secret had been exposed, when facing comrades from higher authorities who had come to investigate a case, especially the "person involved" whom they had spent a great deal of effort to find, is simply unbelievable if there is no hidden story behind it.
He coughed loudly, breaking the suffocating silence, his voice steady and carrying an unquestionable authority.
"Alright, everyone, please sit down."
He first raised his hand to signal to everyone, then turned to Luo Fei and stepped aside to give up the main seat.
"Director Luo, please have a seat here. Everyone is here. Your safe return is a great joy. I would also like to take this opportunity to meet with the key members of our Dongguan police force."
Everyone took their seats as instructed, but their gazes remained fixed on Luo Fei. Luo Fei nodded slightly to Zhong Baoyu, and without refusing, sat down in the main seat next to Zhong Baoyu.
His gaze calmly swept over the faces in the conference room, some curious, some shocked, some still weary, and now filled with even more confusion.
Most of these faces were weathered, bearing the marks of years of hard work on the front lines, and were generally a generation or more older than him. Facing this group of seasoned colleagues, Luo Fei slowly stood up, his posture as upright as a pine tree, a humble but never subservient smile on his face. He spoke, his voice clear and steady, instantly capturing everyone's attention.
"Fellow police officers in Dongguan, comrades, good afternoon. I am Luo Fei from the 18th Bureau of the Special Security Bureau of the Ministry of State Security, also known as the Special Case Bureau."
He paused, his gaze meeting that of many people present, his eyes open and honest.
"First of all, I must express my sincerest apologies for the enormous trouble, extra work, and mental stress that my 'disappearance' these past few days has caused to the Dongguan Municipal Public Security Bureau, to everyone present, and to all the comrades involved in the search."
Because of me, everyone has been unable to eat or sleep properly these past few days. Thank you for your hard work.
As he spoke, he solemnly bowed slightly to the entire audience.
This move surprised many people. Given his status and age, his humble and low-key attitude instantly made many officials who were originally resentful due to days of hard work and might have had mixed feelings about his high position at such a young age feel much more at ease.
At least, this young bureau chief understands how to be considerate of those below him and doesn't act superior.
Luo Fei straightened up and continued.
"My trip to Dongguan is on assignment from the Ministry to follow up and conduct an in-depth investigation into the series of cases involving Zhu Dafa's organized crime activities, which previously shocked the nation, and the possible 'protective umbrellas' behind him. (End of Chapter)"